Chapter 146 - Hook

I didn’t sleep that night. I just stayed up, watching the world through the window of my room in the Citadel. Even nearly a week after Duke Graden had been deposed, there had still been celebrations running all night long. I know that large parts of the Uprising army had been really enjoying them. Still, they’d been finally dying down.

With the news of Graden’s assassination leaking, those parties looked to have been kicked back into high gear. All night long, I was able to see indistinct forms frolicking in the streets and gathering around bonfires. Looked to be a fun time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Azarus and Grey were down there.

Meanwhile, I was holed up in my room, idly petting Fade.

And brooding.

I’ll admit it, that’s what I was doing. I was full-on brooding.

Because my training as an assassin started tomorrow.

Grey had wanted me introduced to the Nocturne Division in the scant few days before the army set out for Elderwyck. Before we’d broken up for the night, he told me he would arrange things with the mentor he had in mind. The apparent leader of the Nocturne Agents.

When I asked who that was, all Grey told me was that they were a dwarf who would seek me out and arrange a meeting. He’d told me to expect my contact message sometime overnight.

And so I was still awake, waiting for the moment that some spooky mysterious assassin would arrange a meeting with me.

Somehow.

And while I was waiting, I was brooding. Mainly about what my parents would think of me now.

Probably disappointed.

Heh.

The level of violence that I was capable of now, and was intending to learn more of would be alien to them. Dad had been a simple social worker before his life had fallen apart in that accident. He’d dedicated himself to helping people navigate the banalities of the governmental system, and had honestly seemed happy for it. He was ultimately a simple man. Not stupid, and not slow. Just…simple. He’d had it all figured out, and many people would have thought he’d won at life. A wife and son, little debt, and a home of his own. From what I remember of the before times, he was…content.

Mom was…

Mom was the heart and soul of our little family. A simple artist of little renown, she had taught classes at the local community college. It didn’t bring in much money, but I think it had been the experience of teaching art that had really been the draw for her. But it was at home that she had really shined. Mom’s outgoing, frankly quirky nature had been what was needed to draw out the two men in her life. Dad and I were…a bit reserved and had needed her energy to draw us out of our shells.

And then the accident happened.

We’d been returning from a holiday trip visiting family when a truck had veered into our lane, knocking our shitty little car into a ditch. Mom hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt at the time and had been thrown from the car.

When she hit the ground, the coroner told us that she died nearly instantly. As for Dad, he was either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it. He survived, but at a cost. The airbag in our ancient little beater of a vehicle failed as the car rolled, and the axel of the steering wheel violently thrust through it and into his abdomen.

It paralyzed him from the waist down. That wasn’t the extent of his injuries of course, but it was the largest one. There had been plenty of other complications from that accident that made his life a living hell and never fully recovered from.

Probably the greatest being losing the light of his life.

He was never the same.

And from then on…

I sighed, running my hands over Fade’s horns. They had fully come in not long ago and looked suitably fearsome, for a wolf pup. Actually, I took a closer look at Fade. He’d grown a bit bigger. He was far from being an adult, but I’d put him at…maybe the wolf equivalent of a pre-teen, now. The formerly scrawny young wolf had put on a bit of mass and wasn’t quite as dangerously cute as he had been.

Now he was starting to look dangerous in general.

Fade looked up at me from his position lying on my lap. He whined at me, curious as to why I’d stopped with the pets. I smiled down at him and got back to work.

I was thankful for him being here. He didn’t always return to my room to rest anymore, but he had tonight. Maybe he’d just sensed that I was feeling a bit maudlin and come running. Who knew?

I sure as hell didn’t put it past the mysterious powers of a Spirit Wolf.

Said Spirit Wolf raised his head again suddenly, nearly skewering my arm with his surprisingly pointy horns. He wasn’t looking at me this time, though.

No, he was looking at the door of our room.

I followed his gaze just in time to watch a small piece of parchment slide under my door. I felt my blood pressure spike.

That must be the contact from the Nocturne Division.

Carefully standing up from my position seated on my bed, I cautiously approached the door. I don’t know what I was expecting from a simple note, nor why I was acting like this. It’s not like the parchment was going to be laced with poison or something.

Still, I was hesitant as I picked up the note and opened it.

Inside was a small map of the city of Helstein, with a circled location on it and one word.

Daybreak.

I see.

Pretty clear what they wanted. I was a bit surprised that they wanted to meet me in the light of day. I would have expected a group of assassins to meet in the dead of night in some den of iniquity, and not in…

I took a closer look at the map.

Was that a park?

I shook my head. Well, whatever. I had my instructions now.

Daybreak was still a few hours away, and I knew how I was going to spend them.

Doing my best to relax with my furry not-so-little anymore companion.

I turned around and made for the bed once more.

I’d get ready in a bit. Just…a bit more time with Fade was all I needed.

…………………………………………………………

I left the Citadel just before the sun was about to crest the horizon. I made sure that I was kitted out for combat, just in case. I was carrying along most of my normal battle kit these days, and was dressed in my old leathers instead of my flashy Order uniform. My new daggers were strapped to either side of my waist, while I had my pouch containing various potions and my ever-present Breaker on the small of my back.

I’d ended up studying the map enough that I was fairly sure about where I was supposed to go, and it didn’t take me long to get there. I arrived at the small plot belonging to a city park just as the green period of the morning was starting, casting the lush trees and bushes in further verdancy.

Looking around, I could see that I was alone in this small stretch of greenery. There was nobody out here, certainly not a mysterious dwarven assassin.

Well, except for Fade. He had decided to follow me this morning and was currently looking around curiously himself.

I scratched my head, puzzled. Did this guy expect me to find him or something? Was this a test of some kind, perhaps about my tracking skills? I didn’t think I was too bad at tracking, especially when I had Fade here to help me along. I opened my mouth to speak to him, only to be cut off.

Violently.

Out of nowhere, I felt a harsh kick at the back of both of my knees. I buckled, crying out in surprise at the unexpected attack. However, once I was kneeling, something happened that caused my blood to run cold.

There was suddenly a long, hook-shaped, razor-sharp blade at my neck. It was close enough that I could feel it shave off a few hairs of stubble that I hadn’t tended to. I swallowed, feeling my Adam's apple brush the curved edge of it.

Fade spun in place, snarling at the sound of my yelp and collapse. I saw blue-green Aether start to gather around his horns in a way that I hadn’t seen in weeks. Not since Caer Drarrow.

The blade at my throat moved upwards, lifting my chin in an obvious display. I kept as still as I possibly could, shutting down my panic response with my core ring.

I swear I saw Fade’s eyes narrow at the gesture. The Aether that was gathering on his horns dissipated, but he didn’t move out of his crouched position. Nor did he stop growling at the figure holding me hostage with fangs bared.

We stayed like that for several moments, long enough for the green period to cease and pale morning light to drift through the branches of the surrounding trees.

Finally, my mystery assailant spoke. “Sloppy,” I heard a deep, gravelly voice say. “This is Greycton’s new apprentice? Some fool boy, so overconfident that he simply waltzes his way into a possible trap? Do you make a habit of following vague instructions slipped under your door at night? Are you proud of bumbling your way here with only an animal to watch your back?”

I breathed as lightly as I could, aware of the blade still at my neck. “Honestly, I can’t say I am.”

The voice snorted in disgust, before the blade retreated from my neck. Before I could even react, I felt a boot plant itself in the middle of my back and shove.

I went flying, tumbling my way to a stop some yards away from my attacker. As I leveraged myself up, I saw that Fade was crouched protectively in front of me, snarling at an indistinct figure not far from us.

Aether was starting to gather on his horns again, while the figure simply waited impassively.

“Wait,” I coughed, spitting out a blade of grass and laying a hand on Fade’s back. “It’s okay, boy. It’s okay.”

The young wolf took his eyes off my assailant and turned to give me an almost incredulous look.

“Really, it’s fine,” I said, stumbling to my feet. “This…is who I came to meet. Isn’t it? The assassin that Grey mentioned…right?” I couldn’t help a note of uncertainty from entering my voice. Almost reflexively, I felt my right hand drift down towards the Oninite dagger at my waist.

This move didn’t escape the figure’s notice. “A bit late for that, boy,” He said scornfully. “But yes. I am the ‘assassin’,” He sounded oddly amused at the label, for some reason. “That Greycton arranged to take you on. But I haven’t made up my mind, just yet. You haven’t impressed me much.”

When he was finished speaking, the shadowed figure moved into the morning light. Like Grey had mentioned, the assassin was a dwarf. Not quite as tall as Azarus, but certainly taller than some of the other dwarves I’d met. I couldn’t see much of him, though. His entire body was shrouded in a thick, dark grey cloak with a hood. Underneath the hood, I could see a strange mask covering his face, hiding it from view, but allowing a long steel-grey beard to trail out of. It almost reminded me of the animal masks that I had seen most Elves wear to conceal their nature. Where the savage elves that had enslaved me wore wolven masks, and the elves of Sancthaven wore deer masks, this guys was different.

It almost looked avian in nature.

The dwarf visibly eyed me up and down for a moment before grunting. “At the very least you’re not running around in armor.”

I frowned. “I’m not a complete moron.”

“Only a slight one, you mean? Don’t answer that,” He said before I could finish opening my mouth. He shook his head, turning his back to me. “Come. I’ll give you a chance to change my mind. I’ve arranged a testing ground for you farther in.” Without another word, the dwarf that had held a knife to my throat strode off in the direction of the park's forest.

I scrambled to catch up. “Wait,” I said, once I had. “What do I call you? I’m guessing you already know my name.”

The dwarf snorted, but didn’t turn to face me or stop walking. “Of course I know you, Nathan Hart. You don’t deserve to know my name yet, though. For now, you can just use my codename.”

“Call me Hook.”

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